Engineers Rally Past Wellesley, 7-6, in NEWMAC Quarterfinal

Apr 28, 2010

Courtesy of Wellesley College Sports Information

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Kelly Duncan's four
second-half goals helped propel the fifth-seeded MIT women's
lacrosse team to a 7-6 victory over No. 4 Wellesley College in the
quarterfinal round of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic
Conference (NEWMAC) Championship Tournament. With the win, the
Engineers (9-6) earned a spot in the semifinals for the third year
in a row where they will take on host and top-seed Babson College
on Saturday, May 1 at 11:00 a.m. The Blue saw its season come to an
end with a 6-10 record.

Wellesley jumped out to a 4-1 lead in a defense-driven first
half. The Blue got three scores from Molly Morrow and one from
Jenny Holland, as Wellesley out-shot MIT, 16-9. Katie Kauffman
scored the lone Engineer goal, but netminder Allison Hamilos kept
the Cardinal and Gray in the game as she turned away nine shots.

In the second half, MIT struck for two early scores as Duncan
and Stephanie Leger each found the back of the net to close the gap
to 4-3. Wellesley's Holland answered back with a score at 21:37 to
increase the Blue advantage to 5-3.

From that point on, the Engineers took over, winning seven of
the nine second-half draw controls and out-shooting the Blue 13-8.
Duncan converted three out of her four free-position shots in a
15-minute span while Kauffman scored on an assist from Leger to put
MIT ahead, 7-5, with 3:34 remaining. Allison Robbins cut
Wellesley's deficit in half with 2:16 to play, but the Blue were
unable to tally the equalizer.

Kauffman finished with two goals and an assist as Leger notched
a goal, an assist, and three draw controls. Erica Little added a
helper and two draw controls while Molly McShane had two caused
turnovers. Meghan Wright and Lauren Rodda both scooped up three
groundballs as Hamilos racked up 14 saves.

For Wellesley, Morrow ended the game with three goals and one
assist while Holland added a pair of goals. Rounding out the
offense, Robbins tallied a solo score and Kate Cushing added an
assist. Loretta White led the defensive effort with three caused
turnovers and two draw controls, while Mary Mattia made seven saves
between the pipes for Wellesley.